Happy new year! Hopefully the holiday season treated everyone well despite the ice storm and the bitter cold temperatures that mother nature threw at us here in Toronto. If I could, I would punch mother nature in her freezing cold face!
Let me bring you up to speed on some really really really really really exciting developments with the StopGap initiative.
Last winter we were approached by Anna Flisfeder, a lawyer at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt. Anna graciously offered to take on the task of assisting us in applying for charitable status. Anna and her colleague Ina Eroff received permission from their firm to do this work as pro bono and in late October after bush whacking their way through Canada Revenue Agency's tedious application process they were successful! Thanks to Anna and Ina's hard work we are proud to announce the arrival of StopGap Foundation! Here is our new logo!
Moving forward into 2014, School Presentations and The Community Ramp Project activities will be run through StopGap Foundation and get this... we already received our first grant! We sent in a proposal to RBC and apparently they loved hearing about what we are up to, so they cut us a cheque for $5000! This funding will go towards furthering our Community Ramp Project. The plan is to do mini road trips in the spring and summer to visit various communities in southern Ontario where we will launch a Community Ramp Project. The funding will be used to cover transportation and lodging when on the road, while material donations and volunteer labour will continue to be relied upon to cover ramp construction. This is exciting stuff!
We would also like to share that StopGap Incorporated remains. Our Ramps on Request program will continue to run through StopGap Inc. and we are pumped about the opportunities that lie in store. This month we will be expanding our Ramps on Request program into the United States by supplying David's Tea with a beautiful new ramp for one of their Brooklyn New York locations! David's Tea has been an avid supporter of our Ramps on Request program since this time last year. Their customers love the bright teal ramp that we supplied to their Yonge and Eglinton location, this no doubt brought on their request for their store in Brooklyn. Stay tuned for photos documenting this milestone!
We are proud to welcome Matthew Sanders to our Ramps on Request team. Matthew will be our go to contractor for following through with ramp requests. He brings with him lots of experience as a cabinet maker and carpenter and will be helping us improve the longevity of our ramps by introducing a new type of very durable epoxy-based paint typically used in the automotive industry. Matthew has a fully functioning wood shop in Mississauga complete with a spray booth where he will be making everyone's wildest ramp dreams come true! Welcome Matthew!
So, 2014 here we come! It's going to be an action-packed year for us - thank you for your continued support and keep checking in for updates!
